A piece on Nath Sect, Rajasthan

Intreaction with Nath Community at Kala Gora Temple, Sawai Madhopur

What goes around, comes around. I had recently put down William Darylmple’s Nine Lives. A book which talks about the nine community-based/localized religions, showing how fragile and virtually unknown they are to the common Indian, eg. The Rewari community of Rajasthan worshipping the Pabuji of Pabusar, was an interesting account, with the incumbents in a relentless battle to save the fragmented pieces of  an ancient, locally generated religious belief system. 

Kala Gora Temple, Sawai Madhopur

During my visit to Ranthambore National Park, I took time out to visit an acclaimed and ancient temple of Kala Gora. Carved into the steep ridges of Aravallis around 10 KMs from Sawai Madhopur Railway Station, is a small but colourful complex.  This Temple, one of its kind in India belongs to Nath Sect, a sub tradition within Hinduism. The two deities Kala and Gora (Goraknath) are two brothers, with the Gora being the famous Hindu god Bhairavnath, a reincarnation of Shiva and Kala his brother. Goraknath, a common man belonging to Nath community performed Siddhis to attain the highest order, Bhairavnath(a shaivism belief). Interestingly, Nimnath and Parsvnath (from Jainism) were disciples of Bhairavnath and are connected to the Nath Sect. This complex interlinkage of Indian religions(Hinduism and Janism, here) is something I need to explore more.

The two moortis of Kala and Gora present atop the temple complex at quite a height, gave a beautiful view of the old city and its surrounding mountain line. With only a little expectation in heart, I climbed up and entered into one of the most meaningful conversations I’ve had in recent times, with the Priest of the temple (Shiv Narayan).

How old is this temple? I asked. “Around 1200 years old”, He replied.
 
He then remarked with a question, “Why have you come here? There is no god, You’ve put your own money, taken the bus, you decided and you walked up till here. If it weren’t your will and effort you could not have reached here”. It was an unsolicited remark. I felt captivated by this unassuming, unorthodox way of welcoming anyone on a temple(unlike the usual priestly-sweet-talk).

With of Old Sawai Madhopur from Temple Complex

The stoical views he shared about his religious standpoint were strikingly self-centric, that god resides within and that the god should never be extolled and put to a higher level altogether. These are bold statements and having the whole community to follow them is even bold yet beautiful. He elaborated that a person of his sect lived on the edge of a sword, tight-roped, always, forever. Meaning, unlike the usual hindu community, they invite sufferings and physical pain in the process of attaining Siddhi. This seemed to borrowed from Jainism. The Temple, he told was the only place to attain Tantrik Siddhi for the entire Nath community and people from whole of the Rajasthan came to visit this temple.

Thoughts on Rama: He was on ordinary man who did a lot of common things, good and bad. He killed an animal for his wife. He killed Ravana and almost destroyed his entire clan and empire.  Exactly, what do you think remains of the original Lanka, like does the Ayodhya? His only great part was his obedience. If only every child obeys his parents the way Rama did, that’s what we can credit him for but the way and the moment we start giving them(Rama) a place above us, when we elevate their status to something that we cannot reach, that’s when we discredit our own existence. God is within us. Science has now and in our community it has been said for ages that the same constituents which make us, made the planet and this universe, made the God. Its all one, chemically.

Thoughts on Human existence: The right question is not why we exist, it is, given that we exist, what is the most important and meaningful reason we should be alive. No one has ever and can ever stop the cycle of creation and destruction. Its like the waves at the sea-shore, the way air bubbles are created. Some of them stay for a long time, you have to be that bubble and important one who stays for a while and creates meaning. Interestingly, there is no point questioning why the bubble is created. Humans are undoubtedly the most important race. They have consciousness, can differentiate, judge, create and destroy unlike any other creature.   

Temple priests, Shivnarayanji on extreme left.

Thoughts on Festivals/Diwali: Do you celebrate Diwali? I asked. Yes, when we are done with our field harvests, we take time out to clean our houses, paint them. It isn’t that ‘Ram’ came back or something like that, no! Though, I must say, community needs festivals to grow together, there is nothing bad is celebrating Diwali but not because Ram came back. It is me who has ploughed and I want rest and I want to celebrate.

Can we have something to take from this sect? Was this really a spin-off from Hinduism or stood on its or can now be attributed to have contributed to Hinduism as one of its constituent smaller religions ? Above all, I felt happy that there are sects, which can stand on their own and question what is written in sacred texts, as even texts were written by humans, like us.   

The flip side of Justice : Lessons from what "She" suffered

I was talking to a friend of mine, who lives in Delhi, about how she felt of the decision the Special Court brought forward on the 13^th Sept. She said, this was the best that could have been done to them of what they did (instant death, no sufferings). She said, ‘Try walking in a girl’s shoes in Delhi, you’ll get to know’. She wasn't wrong in her place and I advised her to make a habit of keeping chilly powder with her, whenever she moves out. Though I wondered, with the old quote in mind, ‘We kill people, who kill people, because killing people is wrong’. 

Why was it that she was so stubbornly satisfied by what she said? In fact, why was the whole country euphoric over the same judgment? Where actually was the whole world, when she was actually ‘suffering’? Why is it that our pseudo-wisdom keeps revenge the only way to get justice?

I don’t have words to describe how Nirbhaya was tormented. Maybe, Inhumane, Irrational I would term it. Inhumane for her, Irrational for them. Why Inhumane? Because we don’t see cannibals around. We don’t eat humans, we don’t kill them by slicing them into pieces. But then we do see people kill other beings (Animals), equally horrendously, eat them, cook them and in our hypocrisy prefer to over look the issue, saying its our food. As has been said very famously, ‘We call ourselves civilized but behave no less than barbarians, when it comes to self-interest’. Why Irrational to them? Because rape is one thing, killing is another. Rape isn’t inhuman, its one form of sex, brutally per se. It was irrational of them to have sufficed the rape in that manner.  

Jyoti(Damini), who lit a lamp for us all.

Unfortunately, whenever such an incident happens it results in such a societal rage, for once, questing then our reactionary conscience as well. Notably, whenever someone suffers such an atrocity, all s/he wants is the perpetrator of the crime to be punished. Why? So that the revenge is over. Where do we see justice in this, when all bad that had to happen has happened. And in the name of justice, all we self correcting puritans are doing is to commit more atrocities with a majority will. That’s inhuman again. Is such punishment a self correcting mechanism for society to reach Utopian echelons Or is it something else? Cannot we see that humanity breeds humanity? Cannot we actually make a man out of a beast? Cannot we, for once, remember what ‘He’ told us all? Ahimsa. What exactly is the euphoria for, when she is dead? How is it that, we have just accepted that rapes are perpetual epidemics? and that the rapists should be punished with no cap to severity? Why cant we talk it over with the vulnerable rapists? Yes, rapists are also vulnerable. They don’t rise up from underneath to just rape around. They are people like us, mostly uneducated, idol, trying to figure out cheap ways of having pleasure in this costly lifestyle. Its not that easy to just equate our upbringing with theirs. As has been said, ‘Every man is a product of his own society’. Remember the schools you went to, the restaurants your family took you to, the clubs, the functions, the morning prayers, the festivals. All that made you what you are today. Back to them, I think they missed it all. They missed the chance of walking on the sensibly civilized way. As a society, lets us tackle the problem down-up rather that top down. That can help reach the utopia. Revenge wont. There would be no lessons learnt, as we have no idea, who is having a chance right now, to rape whom. We simply don’t. Lets fix it the noble way, the Indian way. Amen.

The curious case of Patna porter.

Equality, Poverty, Needs, Resources. These are very important words we seldom use in our daily lives. The younger generation, my generation rather prefer to use Cool, No Yaa, TLDR, Cya, Hiking, Damn-it etc instead. No offense to the smartphone generation. But lets see how our indifference towards not referring to the former set of words (in our daily lives) have made us hugely ignorant towards the other side of India.
 

Somewhere in Motihari, Bihar

I got down at Patna Station few weeks back. There is some sort of heat, something closely associated with sweating which lingers in such areas. Its hard to describe it, maybe it is psychological but it exists. I was greeted by a set of minion porters (will be calling them Coolie now onward) , while getting down the train. I made myself to overlook their shouting, dropped down my heavy suitcase and started rolling it, my eyes fixed at the nearest over-bridge on the platform, wondering, how will I lift the rolling baggage. K. Meanwhile, the Coolie(s) followed me and I increased my speed. I knew, sparing, say 200 bucks, which usually is the charge everywhere wont make much sense. I hurried. He hurried and said, “Saab bas bees rupaye dedijiega.”  

I stopped and looked at him. He was frail, around 65 plus. I reached the over-bridge by then and had to decide now, at a snap. Couple of questions broiled up in mind, What do you get in 20 rupees? What could have made him work this hard for this less? Is there no market for him? Inspite of huge population, is this what the purchasing power is?Do Biharis prefer to be weightlifters when it comes to saving their 20 bucks? I thought of giving away 20 bucks to him, just like that. But then that would have left him being a beggar, inspite of his readiness to work. No, I had to hire him and I said yes, amused and saddened by this cheap price of being a real Saab.  

Are we 67 years old? Wait. No.

It is not just confusing for erudite(s) but equally heart-rendering for the people in general, to accept India as 67 years old. Isn't it similar to calling a 60 year-old, who went into coma, at 48, a 12 year old? What sanctity would such a baseless claim hold to the conscience of the 60 year-old, grey-haired, wise retiree?

Bharatvarsha 

India isn't like the Americas, which were cut off from the known, progressive world till the end of 15th century. We were visibly existing, doing almost 1/4th the world trade, increasing our exploratory, contemplative wisdom on logic and reason, embracing life with ever expanding arts and infrastructure. Just because a fairly recent World-Order expects maximum countries to have emerged from the colonial womb of Britons and French, would be accept our true definition? Are we Indians, so out-flawed with this new western gimmick, that we would bury our historic ubiquitous presence which has given this world three religions and numerous languages? If we are Sovereign in true sense then who are others to define us, christen us? Let others have their own thoughts but its our duty and in our national interest to not allow others for righteously defining us. It hits our conscience (if at all there is some left).
It is high time that we define India holistically, broadly, keeping all our contributions and golden periods markedly above this brief stint of servile and communal fall out.
I don't imply not to celebrate 15th of August but to realize that it can be given a little less impetus, keeping India's 5-millennium long history. Just think, of all India ever was, who is called the father of nation? Someone who came 100 generations after the nation was born? (not talking about Gandhi as character and instead have very high regards for him, its about how we are looking back that is being argued here). Going a step further, India should should immediately shed its Commonwealth-tag for it is more of a grim reminder of its subservient fall for a ruthless, self interested, clan of travelers-turned-rulers. Whats the point in honoring defeat?  
So should be stop celebrating 15th of August 1947 now?
Absolutely not! But rather celebrate with far more holistic, better claims of togetherness, achievements and and impeccable history. Lets re-scale 'Indianess'. Nobody else will.

PS: With full regards to what Nehru remarked that generations to come won't understand the ture meaning of freedom and would consider it for granted, here, I might have hurted the sentiments attached with freedom struggle (and the people who gave their lives) but now that we are free, our thoughts should be free in true sense, allowing us to go back deep into what India was and how has it fared since inception. Also, with India having found this newer world-order identity so all-pervasive with this generation of ours I had little to stop myself to express, a bit broadly. Amen. 

For further readings, 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_India
2. India Unbound by Gurcharan Dad
3. The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen
     

Action is our Duty?

Lot of times we spare thoughts to events/things which we are only remotely qualified to do/repair, but in retrospection I sometimes feel what if we've had devoted some time for (say) a few of them perhaps we could have made some a little difference, right?A bias towards action is actually our most important duty.

But Television is more important than Food

Read this piece by Orwell referenced in Poor Economics. How true. :-/

"Instead of raging against their destiny, they have made things tolerable by reducing their standards. But they don't necessarily reduce their standards by cutting out luxuries and concentrating on necessities; more often its is the other way round- the more natural way, if you think of it- hence the fact that in a decade of unparalleled depression, the consumption of all cheap luxuries have increased."

See: Though written at the time of depression, this thought process underlines the mentality of poor people till today. 'They' above refer to the poor people.

The Road Less Taken - Perspectives on exemplary Transitions from Physics

Somebody once said, "Always keep yourself in constant touch of inspiration". Whatever heights you climb up to, it is that inspiration which drives you even higher, gives you an ideal to strive towards. Then, sometimes we meet people, who no doubt have been performers (sometime back in their lives) but posses a sense of heightened complacency which drives them towards a negative self-indulgence, slowly moulding them to into this state which stops allowing others a chance of being better than them, thereby degrading their humility, perhaps letting the ignorance creep, which ultimately warps their own potential. Why the most of successful people are not the most known people? Perhaps their work, doesn't count much. Perhaps, they are victim of their own shortened success. 

Well now that I am about to complete these five years under the spell of Physics (Applied Physics sounds appealing, right? Doesn't make any difference though) and about to take a detour towards a less physical world of Management, Economics or so, I thought of writing something for people who might wanna walk on such a scarce path. A short inspiration-stuffed note. Here I will talk about a bunch who have taken up Physics/Engineering Physics/Applied Physics and then have either forayed in Economics, Business or Management. The fact which I essentially see in such type of transitory success lies in the power of Physics itself. I am not being biased at this moment but Physics indeed stimulates your thought process in dealing with more complexities, allowing to build a broader picture. The armchair retrospective approach which generally Physics employs, nurtures wisdom unlike any other branch I have come across. These inferences perhaps should not be stated bluntly like I did above but we do have time and space constraints to deal with. 

Lets begin, 

1. C K Prahlad

Took up Physics at Loyola College, Chennai and subsequently went to IIM-A and Harvard Business School. He lastly taught at Wharton, where he prematurely died. He wrote one of finest modern pieces on Developmental Economics, Fortune at the Bottom of Pyramid (Havent read it? Buy it now, read it now). Its been said that Western Economies used people like him to make investments in the then Third world. We are now richer, happier, gadgety and have malls to hang out at. Thanks to him. 

2. Eliyahu M Goldratt

Well he isn't Indian, He is Israeli. There is hardly any name bigger than E M G(with exceptions of Peter Drucker, Michael Porter) in  the Field of Management. Heard of Theory of Contraints? He developed it.
I personally know atleast 100 Boutique Consulting firms having their complete businesses running on his models. He was based out of Tel Aviv University and wrote few must reads like Critical Chain and The Goal. A Bachelors to PhD in Physics.

 

3. D. Subbarao

Took up Bachelors and Masters in Physics at two IITs and then went to Ohio State Univ for studying Economics. He worked with World Bank and Economic Advisory Council (India) with finally scaling up the Governor ladder at RBI.

He is very well known for his firm decisions at his present portfolio and his indifference towards succumbing to Govt. pressures. I don't think he wrote any book(let me know in case you have seen one :)), though the previous Governor (Bimal Jalan) is a fine writer.

 

4. R Gopalakrishnan

Took up Physics at St. Xaviers and IIT Kharagpur, presently Executive Director at Tata Sons (Possibly the biggest corporate position you can ever dream of in India).

A must watch/read on Leadership, he has written a bestseller management book, The Case of Bonsai Manager. I have met him once at a Social Entrepreneurship event. Very few guys have that ability to spellbound you in as little time as I got there. He is a management academician in practice, teaches at few IIMs and applies his teachings at this big role he has. Cool. \m/ 

 

5. Ankur Warikoo

Ah! He is the outlier(in more than many ways) of the lot. :)

This guy is CEO of Groupon India, (havent heard about the firm? sit a little more on the internet, you will). Took up Physics at Hindu College, Delhi University and went to Michigan for Masters in Physics. Worked there on few Internet Start-ups and returned to pursue MBA from ISB. I am in full envy with this guy in particular. Rest all are rather products of a bit different times. Do go through his blog here,  http://www.ankurwarikoo.com/, Worth following on Quora. :)

Its been said(again), 

"There are two kinds of education, One teaches you how to live, the other teaches how to make a living". 

But, does this make sense? Can Physics really not take care of the second part? Or is Physics so pure that the quote simply denigrates it? Why is that for some, money is everything and for some it isn't anything at all? Can there be a balance? I wonder. I don't have answers now. Though I do have few assumptions and I will definitely test them with the help of time. 

Mohan Bhargav - I

A person who proved just enough, sometimes taking people by surprises. Performance to him was an experience and not a reward or a cull.  A man caught up between being an Idealist and a Pragmatic. A man of reason also behaving irrational at times, (who defines rationality anyways?)  :-| 
A person thriving to be a spiritual atheist, then succumbing to agnosticism, (he couldn't help being reasonable). To me, he was possibly the best combination of human behavior.  He wasn't just a stereotype, neither good nor bad, highly imperfect and perfect at the same time. To him, life was a journey to the unknown, or maybe known, who knows. He yearned to connect to reality, a million times, all in vain. For he became aware of Universe's conspiring(against/for him).  For he saw the universe in him then. He agreed in consciously carrying himself forward rather than living momentarily for small pleasures and rewards. To him the goal was to produce energy for others to rejoice, for he realized that he was the universe.

PS: Mohan Bhargav isn't the Indian immigrant at NASA, (he) is something else, though I am sure his resemblance in real space wont be that unnoticed. This is an experimental post in the domain of philosophical introspection. :-/  

On Cat, Mouse and the Bell

In the midst of the crises, the fellow mice asked the mouse to construct a bell and put it across the cat's neck. But the resources were scarce and if once the bell was made, then it could not be remold for any other purpose. Our mouse, feeling delighted by getting the opportunity and being concerned about his performance index (status quo) started working very hard to 'Bell the Cat'. Nights started looking like Days. He imagined not just belling the Cat, but being even powerful than the Cat itself. He was simply blown away with the performance anxiety, ceasing to be analytic, Alas! (How can a mouse out power a Cat?).

He built a great Bell, so powerful, so big that, it could be heard across kilometers. He thought he did it, barely so. :|

The D-Day came and our mouse was to bell it (cat) up and everyone gathered to see the Bell and the show (People watch a lot! They have all the time to do so:| ) Our mouse was overjoyed by his accomplishment but forgot to check the size and requirements of Cat's Neck. Maybe he did check, but he wanted the Bell to be nothing less than Grand. Ah! such a megalomaniac our mouse was. 

The Bell was so heavy that none of the Mice, not even our mouse could lift it up. The CAT came and ransacked their place. Misery prevailed. Our mouse though, somehow survived.

PS: The Parable is a work of Fiction but may resemble some event, person. Pragmatism is such a scarce commodity that even the most ambitious of the people, sometimes lack it. Any plan, should always be executed as per the requirements, no point being over ambitious, specially at stages which don't require us to be so.

Backside of the Diary

Ten inspiring quotes/sayings/dialogues I scribbled on the backside of some random diaries I keep. Not at all the 'ten best ones' or even the 'assorted ones' but they make sense, each one of them.

#What you and I think of big money is loose change for them.
(Vinod Mehta, newslaundry on Mukesh Ambani)

#Its not what enters the man's mouth that is evil, its what goes out of it.
(Probably, Mahatma Gandhi)

#We call ourselves civilized but behave no less than barbarians when it comes to our self interests.
(Very common, isn't it?)

#Don't disturb the club. \m/
(Ah! Ever have a chance of saying it? Exclusivity isn't that common)

#You can buy a painting but you cannot say you painted it.
(Chetan Bhagat, money can't buy everything, stop flaunting!)

#Denials and Bans don't work in this country.
(I think its mostly for India) :(

#Don't hit 50 and still have the same friends you had in school/college.
(Exploring strangeness is not wrong, right?)

#Sometimes its more important to stop looking at Forests and start looking at tress.
(On importance of "Micro")

#If you don't stop being ordinary, you would never be extraordinary.
_me

#Even a brand has to act like an Individual.
(Mostly from 'Built to last')

and lastly an extra one,

Companions of contemplation. :)

#There is a thin line between 'principles' and 'prejudices'.
_me (Think! how much principled/prejudiced we really are :-| )

I thought let me jot all these together, what better way than a blog post. :)